Crystal Light Challenge for the Holidays 2012 – First Week’s Update

As I announced last week, I am aiming to lose about 5 pounds by the end of 2012. That would be me weighing in at 165 or less. As I am using you all to keep me accountable, so here is my weekly update.

Eating

On the food side of my weight loss, I am tracking everything I eat and assigning it Weight Watcher Points Plus values. I’m trying to stick to 29 points a day and use a minimal amount from the 49 allowed weekly extra. Since I was a member for about 8 months, I seem to remember nearly everything so far. I’ve Googled four items Friday to check myself, but I was dead on about them too. Here’s how it went since I started last week. In the weeks to come, it will show Sunday through Saturday since I do have to write these a day in advance for them to go live in the morning.

Total Used = 117 Points of 144 available (29 base points a day and 7 a day for splurging)

Yay! I always start strong, lol. Let’s see how I keep doing.

As for what I am eating, I have been relying heavily on bananas, sugar free Jello, homemade smoothies (new “recipe” below), and popcorn as my snacks. Breakfast has been an egg and some toast, Honey Nut Cheerios, or a banana (I was on the run Friday and Saturday morning). Lunch is a Lean Cuisine/Smart Ones meal or a peanut butter and jam sandwich depending on my mood. And dinner is whatever hubby wants to cook.

I sort of weened myself off of soda and diet soda in general about 3 months ago without noticing it (just forgot to buy it a couple of weeks in a row), so I’ve been drinking water and Kroger brand, no calorie, Fruit Punch. If I do drink soda, my favorites are Diet A&W Rootbeer and Diet Dr. Pepper. Mr. BFS drinks a bunch of unsweetened iced tea. I’m not there yet…too bitter.

For dinners, I am taking larger portions of the low points stuff like veggies and less than usual portions of the meats and starches. But I’ve still been able to enjoy really tender steaks and sweet potatoes. I’m just eating more grilled zucchini, squash, and boiled carrots than I would normally throw on my plate. Desserts have been really small portions of my normal stuff like the yummy Sunday Pie that my mother-in-law and hubby made, or I grab a Weight Watcher’s icecream treat if I have any points left.

The hardest day was Saturday since we were eating out with friends at Denny’s for dinner. But I just had a small breakfast (banana), a small lunch (frozen dinner with low points), and half a smoothie so I could use most of my points on dinner. I ended up having the Fit Slam, which was actually a let down. The egg whites with spinach had zero flavor added to them, plus they were watery. So I finished off the good parts like the English muffin and turkey bacon and then ordered two pancakes, lol. That finished off my points for Saturday at 7pm, but it was totally worth it, hahaha.

Exercise

This is where I generally suck. I sit down at my computer and just go until something pops up. So I’m either out and about doing errands or hanging with friends, or I completely lose track of time in front of the computer. Either way, I’m not exercising.

All I did from Wednesday through Saturday was 15 pushups and 20 crunches.

I’m attempting to find a walking partner right now to get my butt moving 2-3 times a week minimum. If you would like to have a phone walking buddy, please email me so we can get started. If there are several of us, we can pair up or even rotate, lol.

My plan is to walk 2-3 times a week with a buddy for 30-60 minutes. I’m going to stretch beforehand and fit it pushups and crunches there too. Hopefully all of that will help my body tone up a little while I drop fat from the food diet part. Plus, muscle burns calories, so the more I create muscle, hopefully the faster I lose fat weight.

My target for this coming week is to walk (with a partner or not…) at least twice for 30-45 minutes. I will also do at least 40 crunches and 20 pushups.

Update

All of that said, here’s the actual weight update.

Started Tuesday night, November 27th at 169.8 pounds.

Weighed in Sunday morning, December 2nd at 166.6 pounds.

Total Lost Thus Far: 3.2 pounds.

All of my future weigh-ins will be around the same time Sunday mornings so there will be a clear line on what was weight loss and what was just the difference between morning and night weights. But I am super happy to see a great drop like this, so I am totally doing a happy dance even if it is just half water weight.

New Target

Next week, I am aiming for the 165 or less mark early. If I lose two pounds a week now, I have a greater ability to keep it off during the Christmas feasting times. I have a Christmas dinner on December 16, December 24, and probably another one on December 25. Plus, we are attending a board gaming convention from December 27 through December 30 and we won’t be able to eat at home most of that time. Better to lose now and try to maintain than try to lose during the chaotic days…

And as promised:

Crystal’s Low Calorie Smoothie

- Half Cup frozen strawberries
– One small banana or half of a large banana
– One or two packets of Splenda depending on my mood
– One cup whole milk

Blend until smooth and enjoy. My version is worth 4 points and I sip on it over a couple of hours. The milk is the only thing worth points, so you can lower the calories by using 2% or skim.

Comments (15)

If you can’t find a walking buddy, try downloading some podcasts or audiobooks that you only listen to while exercising. The more of a treat they are, the longer you’ll exercise so you can keep listening!

What is it about the weekends that makes things challenging?! I realized one thing that will be key for me is staying away from holiday parties. Maybe that’s not a choice for everyone, but I know if i want to accomplish my goals, it’s what I have to do…to many temptations.

That’s a lot of weight so soon! I think you’ll make this 2012 goal for sure!

Sidebar: I was looking through my favoriate blogs for an ‘advertise here’ sort of page. I wanted to make one for my site, but couldn’t figure out where to start. I see that you have one and it’s a great template for me to start with — so thank you!

CYH

December 3, 2012

I would suggest using natural cane sugar or agave nectar instead of Splenda. There is some evidence out there about Splenda being bad for your health, and since it was only invented within the past 20 or so years, I don’t think we will really understand what it does for a while.

@Mrs. Pop, I am still looking for my iPod Nano that seems to have been lost in our move…I need to check my car. Maybe it is under a seat or something…

@Michelle, sad! Hope he gets better super fast!

@Catherine, WW worked for me too in 2010. I like the budgeting aspect of the point system. And it is actually easier than calorie counting for me.

@Budget & The Beach, yeah, it’s not in my nature to skip time with friends or family, so I just have to budget my intake and use some willpower. I always used to skip company parties, but that’s not really an issue anymore, lol.

@Lance, I will hopefully still be trekking along then, so you are more than welcome to join in anytime over here.

@TB, fingers crossed! Glad my page helped. Keep it super simple is what I’ve learned…lets them know you are in the market without giving too much info that has to be updated all of the time.

@CYH, I don’t have much in the big scheme of things (maybe 4-6 packets a month), so I’m not too worried. But if I was having a smoothie every day, I would look into other options. I used to use real sugar or honey, but it isn’t point friendly.

My Dad has a lot of luck with that Weight Watchers point system. It sounds like you’ve got the diet portion down. Now you just need to hit the exercise part hard. If you take on running 1 to 3 miles a few times a week, you’ll be surprised at how much weight will fall. Light but vigorous weight lifting also can help pretty good.

If you really want to make this a permanent change it’s time to stop with the sweeteners in your smoothies. Get some really good, ripe fruit and use just that. You’ll be “re-calibrating” your taste buds and it may be hard for about a week. But once you get into the taste of real fruit — satisfyingly sweet and delicious all on it’s own — you’ll find how great it is. It will help you with the unsweetened tea, too. Add some fruit to it and you’ll be just fine with the plain iced tea and some sweet frozen strawberries instead of a beverage with artificial sweeteners.

@Christa, I already emailed you, but for the public’s sake – I suggested baked apples with honey.

Hi! Thanks for visiting! My name is Crystal, owner and author for BFS, which started in February 2010. My world consists of full time blogging, professional pet sitting, my husband of 10 years, my family, and my friends. You'll be reading about all of that and then some here, and I sincerely hope to "meet" you in the comments soon!

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